Share your thoughts

Really lovely but I have to say that I think this has very little to do with bass playing. To me it’s playing classical guitar on a bass. I’m not some sort of bass snob that believes you shouldn’t play fast or high on a bass. I love Jaco, Scott La Faro, Marcus Miller etc. but I believe (especially) those players are/were very mindful that they are playing bass.

Really lovely but I have to say that I think this has very little to do with bass playing. To me it’s playing classical guitar on a bass. I’m not some sort of bass snob that believes you shouldn’t play fast or high on a bass. I love Jaco, Scott La Faro, Marcus Miller etc. but I believe (especially) those players are/were very mindful that they are playing bass.

Have you seen any of Jaco’s arrangements of songs, predominantly voiced in chords, or perhaps MM’s “I’ll be there” cover? Bass playing has evolved. It evolved past arco classical, and past James Jamerson, past Jaco, and will surpass all of today’s wicked players. Why does bass playing have to remain confined to a specific period of decades containing certain playing elements, when centuries preceded that, and several decades have already elapsed with players doing these sorts of arrangements? I guess when a bass player ventures beyond his 12th fret it’s suddenly not a bass, and you could say, this isn’t bass playing to me, this is flute, or mandolin, or whatever. Watch someone kill a solo using a midi on their bass making it sound like an organ. Is he playing organ? No he’s a bass player exploring music. Just as when guitarists do a walking line we don’t lambast them for being bass players.

It is all based in need. When Toscanini was auditioning basses for the principal bass job with the NBC orchestra, the Kousevitsky or Botessini Concertos were all the rage among the young players. After listening to several of these candidates, the maestro stormed out of the hall shouting ” Will someone shoo these canaries and please find me a bass player!” He hired Zimmerman, who played a LOVELY Bach.
Contemporary players may be called upon to play anything in any style, and a good working bassist will acquire the skills needed in the 21st century.